OPD officer charged with forging traffic ticket

Friday

Oct 25, 2013 at 2:00 PMOct 25, 2013 at 10:18 PM

An Ocala Police Department officer was arrested Friday on a warrant for forging a woman's name on a traffic ticket.

By Austin L. MillerStaff writer

An Ocala police officer was arrested Friday and charged with forging a woman's name on a traffic ticket.Officer Daniel Fitzpatrick, a three-year officer with nothing but good reviews and commendations in his record, turned himself in on the third-degree felony charge of uttering a forged instrument. He posted bond and was released from jail.Fitzpatrick was trying to avoid getting in trouble for not writing a ticket, an Ocala Police Department official said.The case came to light on Oct. 17, when Shautauqua Scott, 36, of Ocala, came to OPD to ask about a notice to appear in court on a citation for driving while license suspended.She said the officer had given her a warning, not a ticket. She said the warning was about running a stop sign, not driving on a suspended license.Ocala police Sgt. Chas Maier reviewed a video of the traffic stop and learned Fitzpatrick told the driver she was getting a warning. Maier also viewed the ticket at the court clerk's office and interviewed Scott, who said she never signed a citation.On Friday, Scott said she has seen a copy of the ticket and that the signature on it is not hers."He tried to get it close to it," she added.If her sister hadn't noticed the case online, Scott said, she would have missed the court date and had a warrant sworn out for her arrest."I would have been in jail for no reason," she said. What disturbed her the most, she said, was wondering how many others may have had the same thing happen to them.Fitzpatrick, 36, came in for an interview on Thursday. At first he told Maier he had written her a citation, according to an arrest report. Then, after viewing the video of the traffic stop, he acknowledged giving her a warning.He was asked about the "yellow copy" of the ticket."Fitzpatrick stated he did not remember what he did with it, but it's not recoverable," the arrest report states.The officer explained his motive, Maier said on Friday. "Fitzpatrick thought he would get in trouble if he had not written a ticket" in the case.Assistant State Attorney Mark Simpson obtained an arrest warrant for Fitzpatrick, who turned himself in on Friday.Fitzpatrick is suspended without pay, and an internal affairs investigation is underway."The Fraternal Order of Police is supporting Officer Fitzpatrick, and we understand why the Ocala Police Department took the actions that they took," said George Hachigian, general counsel and chief of staff for the organization. "We're going to wait and see how this case winds its way through the criminal justice system."Fitzpatrick was hired Sept. 13, 2010, and has no disciplinary incidents in his personnel file.He has multiple commendations from business people and one from a public official. He received high marks on his last evaluation.His sergeant described him as "a very hard worker" who often would volunteer for calls and to back up other officers.Scott was excused from her court appearance in connection with the ticket, and her case was dismissed.